Spring is only a day away! Literally. Like tomorrow. So I thought it would be a nice gesture of appreciation to gift all of you loyal readers with a One-Stop-Shop for all Spring related activities right here in Queens. There is A LOT happening here in our own backyard. And I definitely did not forget to include events for the parents out there, or those that are big kids at heart like ME. And for all of you penny pinching, I have a ton of FREE events as well, because who doesn’t love FREE EVERYTHING. So I suggest you get those calendar apps ready because you’re going to want to save most, if not all of these events.

March 21-31st {Museum of Moving Image & Others}: Queens World Film Festival. As part of the 9th annual QWFF the Museum of Moving Image will be showing two films, starting with Thousand Pieces of Gold on Tuesday, March 26th @ 7PM. For a list of future film screenings and tickets, CLICK HERE. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity. There are films for all ages and tastes. Also, for my LGBT community, check out “IT GETS BETTER”on Friday, March 22nd; A series of films that encompass a message of hope for the LGBTQ community and its youth.

March 21st @ 7:30PM {Flushing Town Hall}: “LADY GOT CHOPS: Women’s History Month Festival.” A night filled with female jazz musicians from all cultural backgrounds. Click Here for tickets and more information on this incredible event. I highly recommend this event for all of those who are in love, or slowly falling in love with Jazz. Perfect for a date night or for my ladies on girls night!

March 23rd @ 12PM {Museum of Moving Image}: “Family Program: Oscar Nominated Shorts 2019.” Did you watch the Oscars this year? Well I did and the short films that were nominated really caught my attention. I actually watched “Period. End of Sentence,” by Rayka Zehtabchi, which won the Oscar for best short film this year, and I can’t recommend it enough. Now there were a few other shorts that didn’t win, but they’re all really as incredible. Make sure you purchase tickets to this very special screening at the Museum of Moving Image ASAP before tickets run out. CLICK HERE!

March 23rd @ 2PM {Flushing Town Hall}: Music In Color: Gabriela Lena Frank. Join this free musical event by American composer, Gabriela Lena Frank. The multi-ethnic composer will be performing along side Kirya Traber. Make sure to sign up for your FREE tickets HERE.

March 23rd from 1-4PM {Queens Botanical Garden}: Children’s Garden Open House. This event is for the kids! The Queens Botanical Garden has set up planting activities and garden crafts for kids ages 2 to 14. “See how worms wiggle, touch and discover the QBG plant collection, create your own tasty and healthy trail mix, plant your own seedling in the Children’s Garden, or do a garden-wide scavenger hunt.” This event is completely FREE with RSVP so CLICK HERE to register your kids and yourself.

March 23rd & 24th {MOMA PS1}: Come Together: Music Festival and Label Market. Attention all music aficionados: MOMA PS1 in collaboration with Iconic Record Shop are holding their third annual music and label market festival. There will be live performances, workshops, films and panels. They will also have over 75 record labels represented. So you do not want to miss this opportunity. Tickets are still on sale CLICK HERE. The events hours have been extended on Saturday from 12-6PM, and if you buy a Festival Package you’ll be granted admission until 9PM. Check out the full activities schedule HERE.

March 24th from 10AM – 5PM {Queens College}: The Queens Chocolate Fest. Are you a chocolate feen like I am? Look no further! Queens College is hosting this mouth watering event, and tickets are very affordable. For more information on this event CLICK HERE

March 24th @ 2:15PM {Flushing Town Hall}: “Underneath a Magical Moon: A Reimagining of Peter Pan.” This play is for ages 3 and up, so if your kids are at that age where they can sit still, TAKE THEM!! I can’t stress the importance of introducing the arts to children. One of my all-time favorite things to do is to go see a Broadway play or live theater. Remember Hook fans, Peter Pan is for the kids and the big kid still living within all of us. For tickets CLICK HERE

March 30th @ 7PM {The Knock Down Center}: Kuldeep Singh: THROUGH THE KĀLI-EROS. This installation based performance merges Indian classical dance, visual art and theater. This is a live performance piece and is completely FREE for all. Simply RSVP HERE for your tickets.

March 30th @ 7:30PM {Flushing Town Hall}: The Queens Symphony Orchestra Master Works Concert Series: The Romantic Heart. I am a huge fan of classical music. Growing up it was the only way I could find focus while working on schoolwork, or muting the chaos of work as an adult. If you’re like me, then you’ll probably love this performance by The Queens Symphony Orchestra. This event is free of charge with a simple RSVP. You do not want to miss this magical performance.

March 31st from 12-10PM {Flushing Town Hall}: Queens Jazz OverGround 2019 Spring Jazz Fest. I know a lot of you are constantly trying to find affordable Jazz events since these usually break the bank. This jazz event hosted by Flushing Town Hall includes performances from Queens based jazz talent and is free of charge for all. Simply RSVP HERE to get your free tickets and enjoy a day filled with fine tunes.

Wow! Just WOW! I can’t even begin to tell you how magical Socrates Sculpture Park is. It is hands down one of my favorite parks in Queens. It could be due to my childhood infatuation with the park. My dad would always drive past it on our way to Costco. I would ask if we could take a peak inside, but my parents were always on a mission to get the groceries and get home. I would see these huge steel sculptures peaking out from behind the parks bushes. Sometimes I would even stick my head out the window, hoping to get a better look at the sheer magnitude of these pieces. They were MASSIVE! I was also barely a teenager, and still a tiny human being who felt this city was this scary and larger-than-life place.

However, Socrates never ceases to amaze me, and that’s hard to do for a strict critic like myself. They really BROUGHT-IT with their current exhibitions. From artist Amy Brener’s “Fort-dress” (a translucent hot-pink partial shelter that encompasses the female body and form) to Nathaniel Cummings-Lambert’s “Corral,” (a labyrinth made up of wood fencing and gating, inspired by animal pens found in rural areas) there is art for every taste. I actually got lost for a bit and almost lost my sanity while attempting to get through Corral. It’s hard to admit, but I’m really not the brightest when it comes to paying attention to directions, very much like my driving. Although it was both fun and annoying to lose myself in a labyrinth, nothing beats Sherwin Banfield’s “A Cypher in Queens.” For a girl from Queens there is literally nothing cooler than seeing your childhood hero’s propped up like gods in gold. Sherwin has created three statues, one for each of Queen’s fallen hip-hop soldiers (Jam Master Jay, Phife Dawg, and Prodigy) and he was somehow able to incorporate speakers, so as you’re looking up at your hip-hop gods you’re also listen to their greatest hits. How sick is that?!

I suggest that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE go and check out Socrates Sculpture Park in the next fews days. Rumor has it we’re in for some warm weather, so what better excuse to take in the sun while enjoying some awesome art. Also, if any of these pieces caught your attention, I suggest you pay the park a visit on or BEFORE March 24th, as this will be the last day they will be exhibited thanks to a recent extension by park administration. Admission to the park is completely FREE!

Enter a world of zen. That is honestly the best way I can put my experience at The Noguchi Museum. This Queens museum, located in Long Island City near another local staple, Socrates Park, is filled with concrete sculptures and innovative light installations, among other pieces highly influenced by Asian culture. I was lucky enough to have chosen one of the warmer winter days to tour the location because the museum also holds one of the most beautiful gardens. Although there is a small $10 fee to enter this enclave, the garden is well worth it and they even have a small cafe in case you want to sit back and relax after hauling up all three floors. The museum is expansive, so give yourself some time to really be able to enjoy each floor and take a nice amount of photos. I can definitely see myself returning during the spring and summer months, just to be able to enjoy their garden. It really is such a beautiful place to get away from city commotion.

The Noguchi Museum exhibits the work of Isamu Noguchi, the famous Japanese-American sculptor, along with other visiting artists. The museum is currently exhibiting “Akari: Sculpture by Other Means,” a maze of collapsable paper cyclinders and “Akari Unfolded: A Collection by YMER&MALTA,” an art collaboration of six designers. Both exhibitions run through April 14th on the second floor of the museum. You really don’t want to miss it.

Here are some of my favorite pieces, as well as a few photos from the garden. For more photographs, please visit my Gallery.

Artists William Lamson and Luba Drozd have come together under the same roof to exhibit their works at The Knock Down Center. Yesterday was the grand opening of their exhibition, “A Continuous Stream of Occurrence.” Lamson’s exhibit, “Bad Water,” was a combination of blown glass, aluminum piping, glass pipes wrapped in a foam-like substance and fluorescent lights, among other materials. The combination of all of these substances and materials organically formed the illusion of a frozen river. You could even say the structures resembled a water fall, as they were stacked up on a metal shelving unit about 5 shelves high, and as you worked your way to the bottom shelves the pieces stretched out onto the gallery floor. Although a bit cryptic, the flow of the art caught my attention. The placement of these pieces gave the exhibit a natural flow that captivated each and every person who entered this particular room. We all found ourselves squatting down and rising up in search of new discoveries. I walked around the structure at-least twice, checking to see if maybe any details or elements were missed on my last go-around. But I have to be transparent. The artist that really captured me was Luba Drozd and her “Franconia Notch” exhibit. I was instantly captured by the projections on the walls. As soon as you walked into the room you saw shadows, glass hanging from copper wires, large rocks wrapped in wiring while hanging from the ceiling, and copper pipes shooting out of drywall. The most exceptional part of the exhibit for me were the tactical projections. The shadows on the wall were not all formed by the beautifully placed hanging-glass structures, some were actually being projected and mimicked the movement of a few of the objects within this room. My eyes were being tricked, and this fascinated me. I recommend everyone take at least 5 to 10 minutes to really let the structures on the walls sink in, and then slowly let the projections come to play. I found this both fun and interactive.

“A Continuous Stream of Occurrence” will be on display at The Knock Down Center until April 28th of this year. Entry is completely free. Doors are open to all: Thursday through Friday from 5PM to 9PM and Saturday to Sunday from 2PM to 8PM.

On a side note… They have a cute bar inside KDC called “The Ready Room.” So make it a date and get drinks after your walk-through!

The title is accurate. No mistakes here! Yesterday I was finally able to take a trip over to Mrs., a gallery located in Maspeth, Queens with a whole lot of personality. I had been wanting to visit this Queens staple for some time, and I have to say it didn’t disappoint. Mrs. is currently exhibiting the work of Omari Douglin, a Brooklyn-based artist who has dedicated his pieces to the female body. “Gluteus Maximus” is Douglin’s second solo exhibition at Mrs., and his third overall. He has also participated in group exhibitions all around the country, from Miami, Florida to Los Angeles California. The artist has done an amazing job at paying tribute to the female form. His exhibition shows different female derrière’s, ranging from different sizes to different colors. The industrial colored caulks he uses to create these shapes give the pieces depth, making the pieces appear almost three dimensional. And yes! You heard correctly. He uses industrial caulk, or in other words, the material used when piping tiles in bathrooms or even in kitchens. How incredible is that?! I recommend that everyone take a trip over to Mrs. before Douglin’s “Gluteus Maximus” exhibit comes to an end on March 30th. Also, it is completely free. So if you’re penny pinching, add this to your list of affordable weekend “must-see” galleries.

I had such an incredible time last night at the annual Lunar New Year party by Bubble T and MOMA PS1. The performances were on point, and who doesn’t love a little drag to go with every party?! Am I right! The drag queens were decked out in metallics, furs, face paint and of course platform shoes everywhere! It was vibrant and the music was everything you would expect, and some. I found myself belting out the lyrics to Danity Kane’s “Sucka For Love.” My friends didn’t really join in song with me, but I appreciated being the only nerd who knew the lyrics. The dome was lit up by vivd red lights and snakes, dragons and pigs were projected onto the ceilings. The most prominent being the pig because 2019 is indeed the year of the little porkers. The drinks also had a little oriental twist. They had sake (My friend Erica and I downed two of them. Yum!) and lychee spritzers, tiger beer (a golden lager from Singapore that my boyfriend fell in love with), along with a few other tasty choices. This is pretty much how the rest of the night went. The music was a mixture of throw-backs and new age, with a little oriental. The BOBADOME was awesome, but let’s cut to the chase. Nothing is cooler than being able to see the museums exhibits late at night with a bunch of other buzzed individuals. The laughs! It was the most interesting experience to be able to laugh and talk as loud as you want and no one quiets you down or complains about your half-assed attempts to whisper. It was like a playground for adults, with only a few security guards chaperoning. Overall, I have to give the event a 4 stars. I know, I know, why the 4 star review if it was literally a free for all? Well the event was to capacity, and then some. They really did oversell tickets, and I mean oversold by like 100 tickets. It was super congested in the BOBADOME, and it honestly felt like a fire hazard. My claustrophobia was being heavily tested last night, and not in a good way. I would definitely suggest cutting tickets by like… 100. Make them a little pricier so the experience is more enjoyable. A girl wants to be able to dance, and when you’re sandwiched into a dome with that many people, a girl can’t shake it right. Just Saying!

Please check out some of the highlights I was able to capture from the angle of a 5 foot 3 shorty. Tall people, stop running to the front to block us little people please!! Kay, Thanks!

The museum is opening its doors late night this FRIDAY! The event is described as the “Lunar New Year” party, with DJ’s bumping some of those sick tunes we all love, along with an array of cocktails in the “BOBADOME” (VW Dome that recently surfaced in their yard). BUBBLE T is coordinating the event, and have even detailed possible live performances and interactive installations. This really drew my attention because MOMA PS1 is one of my favorite museums in NYC. Not only is it conveniently in Queens (why bother leaving the borough), but it is always housing some of the most diverse exhibits at any given time. Might I also add: the museum will also allow guests to visit the Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts exhibit (I’ve seen it twice and it’s not one to miss). The “BOBADOME,” as well as museum exhibits, will be open from 8PM to midnight. Tickets are on Eventbrite**